Liverpool have confirmed that defender Joe Gomez has undergone successful surgery to repair a tendon in his left knee but will miss a ‘significant’ portion of the rest of the season while he recovers.
Gomez suffered the injury during a training session with England on Wednesday and his lengthy absence compounds the existing layoffs of Virgil van Dijk and Fabinho.
Liverpool expect the 23-year-old make a full recovery and are able to positively report that the problem was isolated to the tendon, with no other damage to knee ligaments.
Gomez, who suffered a serious ACL injury early in his Liverpool career, will now begin a period of rehabilitation and be monitored by medical staff at the club’s Kirkby training centre.
Fabinho has a chance of returning to action after the international break, but Gomez now being sidelined for the foreseeable future means that Joel Matip is currently the only available centre-back in the Liverpool squad with meaningful first-team experience.
This season, Reds boss Jurgen Klopp has called on Nathaniel Phillips, who was expecting to join an EFL club on loan prior to the injury crisis, and teenager Rhys Williams, who spent last season on loan with Kidderminster in the National League North – tier six of the league ladder.
The real fear for Liverpool fans is whether Matip can stay fit. The 29-year-old has only recently returned from his latest injury layoff and missed more than half of last season. To date, the former Cameroon international has never played more than 29 Premier League games in a season.
Liverpool are to face dangerous Premier League leaders Leicester in their first game after the international break in just over one week’s time. The Foxes have scored 18 goals in eight league games so far this season, the same attacking output as Liverpool.
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Source : 90min